April 20, 2002. I had to take Theo to the emergency vet last night because he has a urinary tract infection. This is actually the second one he's had in four months or so. Both times have been because we got the cheap food. I don't know how I ended up with this delicate cat whose sophisticated stomach can only tolerate expensive food (especially since his brother is fine with whatever we feed him). Anyway, if you think your cat might have a UTI, you have to rush him in to the vet, because it could lead to "life threatening blockage" (cue scary ominous music that makes loving cat owner burst into frantic tears, stuff cat into carrier, speed to emergency vet at 11:00 PM). Theo's fine today, now that he's on antibiotics, but I'll keep watching him. And I guess it's Iam's from here on out. No more Deli-cat.

I'm going to my mom's tomorrow, which is essentially the same as visiting a spa. The food is amazing, low fat, and usually vegetarian, you get great views of sunsets, and you just have to walk out the door to hike up a mountain. To round out the spa experience, Mom and I are going to a Pilates ball class (it's Pilates on one of those giant inflatable balls, from what I gather) on Monday morning. Fun!

April 18, 2002. Get up and stretch! Today, some yoga. I don't know what this one is called, but it's one of my favorites. I know when I sit at a computer all day, my shoulders get really tense, and this helps stretch them out.

Stand a few feet away from a wall, and bend at the waist, putting your hands on the wall (or door, or chairback, whatever's handy and is the right height). You want your back to be flat like a table, and your legs to be straight and next to each other. Keep your head in line with your spine. Concentrate at first on stretching your shoulders and back. Then you can rotate your hips up slightly to get a really excellent hamstring stretch.

This is great to do at work because it doesn't put you in any indecent positions, and directly targets some of the muscles that get tight during the workday.

April 17, 2002. Special for today: found poem.

Also, new stuff on the knitting page.

April 16, 2002. Last Thursday, in a sudden fit of complete insanity, I bought a pair of these low-rise boot-cut jeans at Old Navy. I had it in my head that, since "everybody" had these jeans, maybe I should get some too, forgetting that "everybody" in this case meant "all the 15-year-olds." I tried to wear them, I really did, and they did fit (bully for me!), but they just looked horrid. I had that look of, well, of a 31-year-old trying to wear some 15-year-old's jeans. This is how I felt wearing them:

But here's the good news: I marched into Old Navy today and said, "Hi, I don't know if I can return these, because I wore them, but I decided they didn't look good. And they weren't that comfortable either. Oh, and I bought this belt to go with them so I'll have to return that too." The cashier said, "Sure! Of course you can return them!" Wow! I mean, I would have completely understood if they didn't let me return them. But they were extremely nice about it, and I actually ended up getting 50 cents extra back because I had had a coupon, and they couldn't figure out how to properly ring that in. I said, "I guess that's my 50-cent bonus for wearing ill-fitting jeans all day!" and the cashier thought that was funny, even though I was essentially saying I hated their product.

And let's not even discuss the fact that these jeans were that new crazy color wash that makes it look like you stole the pants from someone whose day job was sitting in chemicals and then rubbing said chemical residue off on her thighs.

Also today: Book Club page finally updated with info on whether we liked the books.